Olivier Messiaen - Éclairs sur l'Au-delà... (Illuminations of the Beyond) (1994)

Éclairs sur L'Au-delà, Messiaen's last musical creation, is an interesting anomaly: an orchestral work in no less than 11 movements. Commissioned by the New York Philharmonic Orchestra in the summer of 1987, he completed it in 1991, shortly before his death at the age of 84. But most striking perhaps is that Éclairs is a Dantesque compositional journey of supernatural transcendence that culminates in temporal death and spiritual resurrection. Another captivating aspect of this work is its mesmerizing attention, depiction and transcription of bird-son. Messiaen employed Indian and Greek rhythms, notably in his monumental Turangalîla Symphonie (1946-1948)—a ten-movement piece where he makes use of the ondes martenot, an early electronic form of keyboard. Éclairs, on the other hand retains a strong impressionistic residue. While an unimpeded and direct grasp of immediate reality or aspects thereof are realized through an intuitive process, in musical terms this same understanding becomes one of the aims of impressionism. Despite Debussy's refusal to accept this moniker as the definitive label of his work, this early 20th century musical current nevertheless remains a strong example of aesthetic vision. Musical impressionism attempts to retain musically a momentary view of reality that may or may not exhibit any permanent qualities. Éclairs' many movements do not contain radical shifts in tempo—opting instead to exhibit a measured harmonic grade that at times cannot evade being referred to as dreamlike.

Tracklist
1 Apparition du Christ glorieux
2 La Constellation du Sagittaire
3 L'Oiseau-lyre et la Ville-fiancee
4 Les Elus marques du sceau
5 Demeurer dans l'Amour
6 Les Sept Anges aux sept trompettes
7 Et Dieu essuiera toute larme de leurs yeux
8 Les Etoiles et la Gloire
9 Plusieurs Oiseaux des arbres de Vie
10 Le Chemin de l'Invisible
11 Le Christ, lumiere du Paradis

Bastille Opera Orchestra
Chung Myung-Whun, conductor

Deutsche Grammophon 439 929-2